This program will be an introduction to working with married and unmarried same-sex couples who are separating. Like their opposite-sex counterparts, same-sex couples often have a number of decisions to make, such as what to do with the house, how to divide their finances, and how to co-parent their children, and they have all the same emotional issues of loss, anger, and fear that usually accompany opposite-sex divorce.
Legal marriage can provide a lot of structure for making these decisions, and for most opposite-sex couples, their rights and responsibilities started when they married. However, because marriage for same-sex couples was not available in Virginia until 2015, many long term same-sex couples entered into significant family, contractual, and financial commitments many years before they were allowed to marry, and therefore they may have rights that are not generally recognized under a typical marriage analysis.
In addition, same-sex couples have to overcome many hurdles to become parents, but their relationship to their children may not be legally recognized. Also, unlike their opposite-sex counterparts, same-sex couples also have to establish when the marriage (and thus their marriage rights) began. Was it when they held a commitment ceremony, got married in another state even though marriage was not recognized in Virginia, or when Virginia was required to recognize same-sex marriage after the Obergefell decision in 2015?
If you have questions you would like addressed by the speaker, please submit them in advance to virginiamediationnetwork@gmail.com
**Approval pending for 1.0 hour of CME credit (0.0 ethics) by the Supreme Court of Virginia**
This presentation will be recorded and made available to registrants for 30 days post-webinar.
VMN Members $10
Non-members $35
VMN Student Member $5
Non-member Students $15
Presenter Bio
Michael J. McHugh is a Collaborative attorney and Mediator with over thirty five years of experience practicing in Virginia and the District of Columbia, specializing in family law, LGBT legal issues, and estate planning. Michael is a member of the Family Law Institute of the National LGBTQ Bar Association and has been a frequent presenter on LGBT issues and LGBT marriage. Michael is a Board Member and twice former President of the Collaborative Professionals of Northern Virginia, and a former founding member of the Collaborative Practice Training Institute. In addition to his law degree from the University of Virginia, Michael holds a Master of Architecture degree from North Carolina State University, and a B.S. of Architecture from the University of Virginia. Prior to starting his own firm in 1993, Michael practiced with a large law firm in the area of land use, zoning, and development where he developed his skills in interest-based negotiation. Website: www.themchughlawfirm.com
